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1933 - Day of Potsdam

March 21, 1933 went down in German history as the unholy 'Day of Potsdam'. After the Reichstag fire in Berlin, Hitler used the inaugural celebrations of the newly elected Reichstag (parliament) for a message of propaganda.

In the garrison church 'Garnisonkirche', where Prussian kings Friedrich Wilhelm I. and Friedrich II. were then still buried, Chancellor Adolf Hitler and President Paul von Hindenburg heralded the fatal alliance between German fascism and Prussian military. The 'Day of Potsdam' is a symbol for the disastrous relationship between National Socialism and Prussianism and lead to the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave the Nazis full legislative powers, even allowing deviations from the constitution.

The Garnisonkirche burned down in the 1945 bombings and was demolished by the SED in 1968. On April 14, 2005 - 60 years after its destruction - the foundation stone was laid for its reconstruction as a symbol of reconciliation and against war. The goal is to reopen the historic church by October 31, 2017 for the quincentenary celebrations of the reformation.